About five years ago, Marvel Entertainment announced that it had entered into a partnership with Skydance New Media to develop a AAA game based on its popular superhero properties. This development studio, Marvel confirmed, would be helmed by Amy Hennig, one of the lead writers of the Uncharted and Legacy of Kain franchises. Up until this point, Hennig hadn’t been in the writer’s chair for a blockbuster video game since 2015’s Battlefield Hardline. Therefore, this announcement was kind of a big deal at the time.
Marvel 1943 Made a Big Splash at the State of Unreal Event in 2024
It wouldn’t take too long for Skydance New Media to reveal what exactly they were working on. In March 2024, the studio confirmed that its debut project would be a narrative-driven action-adventure game titled Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. Marvel 1943 was said to feature an original story inspired by Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers, a limited Marvel Comics series that was published back in 2010. Skydance New Media also revealed that Marvel 1943 would be set in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, and that it would feature Black Panther and Captain America as playable characters, along with Howling Commanders member Gabriel Jones and Wakandan spy Nanali.
Alongside this surplus of information, Skydance New Media gave players their first-ever look at Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra in a brief story trailer, during the 2024 State of Unreal event. This trailer had a surprising dearth of gameplay in it, but what little it did show looked undeniably impressive. The graphics of Marvel 1943, coupled with the lifelike facial animations of its characters, made the game look more like a blockbuster movie rather than a run-of-the-mill AAA title. Although the initial showing of Marvel 1943 wasn’t exactly suited to everyone’s tastes, it was enough to get much of the Marvel community buzzing with excitement at the time.
What Happened to Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra?
Since the reveal of Marvel 1943’s first trailer, however, most of the hype for the game has largely tapered off, as there hasn’t been any new information shared about it in more than two years. Indeed, virtually all the news fans have received about the game so far has had to do with delays rather than anything actually exciting. Marvel 1943 was originally set to come out sometime in 2025, but after it evidently missed that deadline, Skydance New Media confirmed that its release would be postponed to early 2026. The first quarter of 2026 has now come and gone, and fans have yet to see a single snippet of unedited footage from the game, let alone a release date.
If Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra doesn’t meet the same fate as some of the other ambitious superhero titles of the last few years, like the canceled Wonder Woman and Black Panther video games, then one can only wonder just what exactly is causing Skydance New Media to be so silent about the game’s launch. Although this may seem like a stretch to some, it’s not hard to imagine that Marvel’s Wolverine may have something to do with Marvel 1943’s recent absence.
Wolverine Could Be Partially Responsible for Marvel 1943’s Absence
Marvel’s Wolverine is the next major superhero title from Sony first-party powerhouse Insomniac Games. The game, which itself is a standalone entry in Insomniac’s beloved Spider-Man series, is currently scheduled to launch worldwide on September 15 this year. Though the game will be a PS5 exclusive, there’s no doubt that it will soak up all the attention from Marvel fans and PS5 enthusiasts alike when it’s eventually released, just as the last few Spider-Man games have done before it. It stands to reason, then, that Skydance New Media may want to avoid launching or even sharing info about Marvel 1943 anywhere near Wolverine’s release window.
Although platforms have yet to be confirmed for Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, it will likely be a fully multiplatform title. Even with that in mind, however, the game would probably fail to rake in the millions of dollars in cash that is likely expected of it, were it to release within striking distance of Insomniac’s PS5 exclusive Wolverine game. Barring any delays, Marvel’s Wolverine will probably be the biggest system seller for PS5s this year, second only to GTA 6.
It seems like Marvel’s Wolverine has everything that most people would expect out of a blockbuster superhero game, from flashy set-pieces to brutal, hard-hitting combat. Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, however, is much more of an unknown quantity. For all we know, the game could be more of a Telltale-style adventure game rather than a typical action title. If that is indeed the case, then maybe Skydance New Media will attempt to avoid the marketing window for Marvel’s Wolverine in order to prevent unfair comparisons between it and its own superhero game. Alas, only time will tell if this actually ends up happening.
